Saturday, July 14, 2012

Guest Blogging with Julie Lynn Hayes

Hello guys! Today I have Julie Lynn Hayes with me talking about the Bigger Brief Reluctant Romance anthologies! So ya come on in, grab a spot to sit, and enjoy! ;) Oh! And I'm over at her place talking too! LOL. It's a twofer... hehe.

Um, just scoot Kitty-Kitty out of the way lol.

Sometimes
true love is reluctant to blossom and needs a little bit of coaxing in order to
come out. But a strong will and a heart filled with determination will
triumph every time! That is the definition of Reluctant Romance as put forth by
the authors of Bigger Briefs, who are also the same authors who bring you free
flash fiction every week, as the Wednesday Briefers.

How
did this come about, you ask?

Good
question.

The
answer begins over a year ago when a group of Silver authors got together and
decided to write flash fiction on a weekly basis and post it on their blogs,
along with links to all the other participating authors. Silver not only
thought it was a good idea, they got their resident cover artist to design a
badge for the use of the Silver Flashers, as the group became known. One author
was in charge; she sent out the prompts on a weekly basis, and kept track of
who was participating, and life was good. But eventually, the first author couldn’t
continue, so she turned the task of keeping the group together over to a second
author. And life went on.

It
was shortly after that Silver took back the badge and forbid the use of the
Silver Flash name (or anything with Silver’s name in it). The intrepid authors
held a quick powwow and decided to continue under another name, and thus the
Wednesday Briefs were born, which continue to this day. We were fortunate to
have Victoria Blisse’s talented husband design a badge for our use.

And
another wonderful thing happened—we threw the group open to anyone, published
or not, from any publisher, not just Silver. By doing so, we’ve met some
wonderful people and forged some new friendships.

The
Wednesday Briefs delivers free flash fiction to this day, and has never missed
a beat.

But
then one day, Victoria Blisse suggested we write slightly bigger stories and
put them together into anthologies to be published by House of Erotica – and
thus the Bigger Briefs was born. We determined that for each theme there would
be two anthologies—one m/m and one m/f. The first theme we used was Voyeurism,
and the latest anthologies are based on the theme of Reluctant Romance.

And
now here we are, having just released our second set of anthologies, and hard
at work on the next one, our Halloween offerings. We hope you enjoy them!

I
wrote a story for each Reluctant Romance anthology.

Lanb to the Slaughter - Julie Lynn Hayes

Elliot Lamb has crushed on Roy Slaughter ever since they started
working together, but he's never had the nerve to make the first move. Now,
with the help of his best friend, Tony Fox, he's gonna take a chance, even if
it means going back to nature to do it!

Excerpt:

I’ve had a
major crush on Roy ever since I started at VMT. From the moment I first laid
eyes on him, I was hooked. I’d never met anyone quite like him before. That was
five years ago. At the time, I was drifting from job to job, trying to find a
place where I felt at home. And then I met Roy and something told me I’d found
that place. And that special man I’d been looking for. But I didn’t dare tell
him. I mean, he’s just so… above me, you know? Big and strong and handsome.
Like a weight lifter, but not overly muscled. I’ve seen him in the company gym;
I know what he looks like when he’s all hot and sweaty, dressed in little
shorts that only serve to emphasize his beautiful butt…

And here I
am—the proverbial ninety-eight pound weakling.

I’ve known
Tony since high school. He’s the one who told me about the opening at VMT.
Tony’s about my height, maybe an inch or two taller.Dark hair, blue eyes, and a dimple in his
chin.

Tony’s my
best friend and closest confidant.

It started
while we’re sitting at work one day, having lunch. Or rather Tony’s eating and
I’m staring at my favorite obsession. He’s sitting across the room, having
lunch with Dirk, who’s also in marketing—a bigger brownnoser I’ve never seen.

Something
bounces off my chest. I turn my head to see Tony’s tossed something at me. I
think it’s a snack cake or something. It looks chocolate.

“What?”

“You gotta
eat,” he says. “This isn’t doing you any good.”

“What
isn’t?”

“You know
what.”

“If I knew
what, I wouldn’t ask you what.”

Stalemate.

We stare at
one another for a whole minute, and then he says, “Look, I’m not blind. I see
how you’re looking at him.”

“At who?” I
feel dumb even playing at being dumb; my cheeks suddenly get hot. Am I that
obvious?

He doesn’t
reply. When I meet Tony’s eyes finally, he’s frowning. But just for a minute.
Then his face clears and all’s well again.

“Look. I
know how you feel.”

“You do?”
I’m surprised. Tony doesn’t strike me as the kind to moon over anyone. More
like the kind that goes after what he wants. Unlike me.

“Yeah, I
do.” He reaches for his soda, takes a good long drink through the plastic straw
before he speaks again. “I have an idea.”

“What’s
that?”

“Maybe I
could… you know… help you, or something?” He shrugs lightly.

“Help me?
Help me what?”

Without
answering, he turns his head and I follow suit so that we’re both looking at
Roy. He must’ve made a joke. Dirk’s laughing fit to be tied, and he’s punching
Roy’s shoulder like he has a right to. Makes my blood boil just to watch him.

“Why don’t
I come over to your place and help you strategize?” Tony suggests.

Of Soup and Love- Julie
Lynne Hayes

Annie Suarez is a
busy romance novelist who needs help keeping her house in order while she
writes. Her best friend Toni sends her Vincent Jakoubek, who is a veritable
Greek god! The trouble is, she's ten years older than he is, and she shouldn't
feel attracted to him, but she does, and when he tells her he loves her, she
just knows that trouble lies ahead! How can she let him down gently, when her
heart is saying don't let go?

Excerpt:

“Toni, didn’t you hear what I said? He told me he
loves me!” Annie fairly hissed the last words into her cell phone. It was
difficult to speak quietly and shout at the same time; circumstances demanded
discretion, while her upended emotions demanded satisfaction—she suspected she
was failing in both respects.

A low throaty chuckle came from the other end of the
line. “I heard you, loud and clear. So, what’s the problem?”

“The problem is he’s young enough… I mean, I’m old
enough…” Annie darted a glance through the barely cracked door of her office.
From this angle, she had a clear view of the hall, and part of the living room.
There he was. Vincent Jakoubek. She could see his sexy back end, clad only in a
pair of tight-looking black shorts, bob in and out of view as he hoovered the
carpet. She was fairly sure he couldn’t hear her above the roar of the vacuum,
but she wasn’t taking any chances.

“Don’t you like Vincent?” Toni had an infuriating
way of throwing what she considered to be the truth out there. Annie thought
her best friend/agent had an even more romantic view of the world than she did,
and that was saying a lot since Annie Suarez was a romance novelist. She had a
number of published novels to her credit, all written under her pseudonym of
Grace L’Amour. “I do, but that’s not the point!” Annie protested. Closing her
door, she leaned against it, sliding down to the floor until her butt hit the
carpet, her heart fluttering. “That’s not the point at all.”

“Oh pooh, Annie, you’re being silly.”

A sharp rap on the door startled Annie. She gave a
little yelp and dropped the phone. Fumbling between her legs, she recovered it,
scooting away from the door as she felt it attempt to open, only realizing
belatedly that the noise from the vacuum cleaner had stilled.

“Annie, are you okay?” came a gentle, sexy voice.
Annie shivered. When he spoke, Vincent’s silken timbre had a way of going
straight to her crotch, setting it on fire.

“I have to go.” Annie slid her phone closed without
another word, fumbling it into her pants pocket. She scrambled to her feet,
clutching at the knob for support, her weight pulling the door open.

Vincent stood in the doorway; her heart leapt at the
sight. Twenty-five years young, he stood close to six foot, with tight black
curls that framed a heart-shaped face, grey eyes alight with humor, terra cotta
lips, and a dimpled chin. A face worthy of gracing any romance novel.

Or the pillow on her bed.

She pushed the inappropriate thought aside, clearing
her throat. “I’m fine, Vincent, just fine.” She smiled to emphasize her words,
but he didn’t seem convinced.

“I was about to start dinner and I was just
wondering if I could get you something first?”

His eyes moved across the room and she turned her
head to follow his line of sight, feeling suddenly guilty. Her computer sat on
the desk; that’s where she should have been, working on edits for the novel
that her publisher was eagerly awaiting. Third in the series. But she’d been
doing other things, such as Facebooking, and talking to Toni, when she should
have been writing. At the moment, the screen was frozen on the image of an
Angry Bird. No relevance to her book whatsoever. Just a stress reliever that
she used whenever her desire for Vincent grew too strong.

About Me

Hey and welcome to my M/M blog!
My published name is M.A. Church, but I also wrote as nomoretears00. I'm a true Southern belle who spent many years in the elementary education sector. Now I spend my days lost in fantasy worlds, arguing with hardheaded aliens on far-off planets, herding my numerous shifters, or trying to tempt my country boys away from their fishing poles. It’s a full time job, but hey, someone’s gotta do it! When not writing, I'm exploring the latest M/M novel to hit the market, watching my beloved Steelers, or sitting glued to HGTV. That’s if I'm not on the back porch tending to the demanding wildlife around the pond in the backyard. The ducks are very outspoken. I'm married to my high school sweetheart, and we have two grown children.